Our last few days on the North Island were spent exploring Wellington and the surrounds. Outside the city we spent a good few hours tip-toeing through the Kaori Wildlife Sanctuary, a maze of pretty little walks through protected forest teeming with birds. Fantastic birdsong chorus, and lots of cheeky little black robins came startlingly close to check us out (Gareth found that kicking around the leaves seemed to keep them interested!) and we explored a cave with torches to find a ‘weta’ which we thought was a little spider, but which turned out to be an enormous scary grasshopper… so we didn’t hang about in the cave too long!
The following day we got blown around the windy city of Wellington. First stop was the Te Papa Museum, the best in new Zealand, where we stood in a house that simulated an earthquake and read about lots of geeky New Zealand geography. All museum-ed out after an hour we had big chocolate milkshakes on the trendy Cuba Street, and were then too full of chocolate for lunch. Took a little boat out to Somes Island, where we hot footed it around the entire island with great views towards Wellington, in time for the ferry to pick us up again. We then scrambled up Mount Victoria for more views over the city, and on the way back down bumped into a local walking his dog who informed us we were walking through the forest filmed in Lord of the Rings where the evil black horses are looking for Frodo – cool!
We left the North Island on the huge inter-islander ferry. The three hour journey to Picton, on the South Island, was incredibly picturesque. We passed across the Cook Straight and then entered Queen Charlotte Sound, which was millpond calm and surrounded by tree-covered mountains with little jetties along the shore. We took a water taxi from Picton (after some tasty fish and chips) across the bay to the far shore, then transferred again to our hostel, a little retreat called Hopewell accessible only by boat. We
stayed for three nights in this hostel, rated the best hostel in New Zealand, and it was just paradise! The hostel was right on the water’s edge and we could take out fishing
boats, kayaks and mountain bikes whenever we wanted. Typical of us, in a restful retreat, we managed to cram our days full of activities! On the first morning we played golf on the deserted (apart from sheep) local golf course, which was made more exciting by having to jump the electric fences surrounding the greens! That afternoon Gaz mountain biked and scrambled to the top of the nearby Pete’s Peak, taking in some incredible views, whilst Rach opted for some kayaking
in gale force conditions to reach another sound below, watching skates scoot under her boat. We finished up with a huge meal of huge green-lipped mussels and dips from the local mussel farm all spread out on newspapers and with all the other guests tucking in, put on for free by the hostel. We must have eaten at least 20 of the yummy monster mussels! Not yet content on relaxing we decided to try some night fishing as we had heard there was more chance of a catch in the dark. We had no such luck, although Gaz did manage to ‘catch himself’, ending up in rather precarious situation with one leg out the boat and the other with a fish hook stuck in the water shoe…. all in the dark! We finished up the day with a glass of wine and a hot tub in the dark looking up at the night sky and spotting a shooting star… relaxation at last. Heaven!
The second day we decided a slower pace was needed, so we relaxed and sunbathed in the morning, then took out the fishing boat on the sound. Rach managed to hook a ‘spotty’ fish (she was actually hoping she wouldn’t catch one!), and Gaz had a couple of promising big tugs on the line but no catch. We later
went kayaking again, this time over to the other side of the sound to have an ice-cream and explore a shipwreck there. Once back we headed up the beach at low tide with a bucket and rummaged around in the sand for cockles and mussels – great fun! – which we cooked up into a little feast back in the hostel. Quite understandably we were very reluctant to leave this little piece of paradise the next day. Highly recommended for anyone passing through New Zealand!!
The following day we got blown around the windy city of Wellington. First stop was the Te Papa Museum, the best in new Zealand, where we stood in a house that simulated an earthquake and read about lots of geeky New Zealand geography. All museum-ed out after an hour we had big chocolate milkshakes on the trendy Cuba Street, and were then too full of chocolate for lunch. Took a little boat out to Somes Island, where we hot footed it around the entire island with great views towards Wellington, in time for the ferry to pick us up again. We then scrambled up Mount Victoria for more views over the city, and on the way back down bumped into a local walking his dog who informed us we were walking through the forest filmed in Lord of the Rings where the evil black horses are looking for Frodo – cool!
We left the North Island on the huge inter-islander ferry. The three hour journey to Picton, on the South Island, was incredibly picturesque. We passed across the Cook Straight and then entered Queen Charlotte Sound, which was millpond calm and surrounded by tree-covered mountains with little jetties along the shore. We took a water taxi from Picton (after some tasty fish and chips) across the bay to the far shore, then transferred again to our hostel, a little retreat called Hopewell accessible only by boat. We 
stayed for three nights in this hostel, rated the best hostel in New Zealand, and it was just paradise! The hostel was right on the water’s edge and we could take out fishing 
boats, kayaks and mountain bikes whenever we wanted. Typical of us, in a restful retreat, we managed to cram our days full of activities! On the first morning we played golf on the deserted (apart from sheep) local golf course, which was made more exciting by having to jump the electric fences surrounding the greens! That afternoon Gaz mountain biked and scrambled to the top of the nearby Pete’s Peak, taking in some incredible views, whilst Rach opted for some kayaking 
in gale force conditions to reach another sound below, watching skates scoot under her boat. We finished up with a huge meal of huge green-lipped mussels and dips from the local mussel farm all spread out on newspapers and with all the other guests tucking in, put on for free by the hostel. We must have eaten at least 20 of the yummy monster mussels! Not yet content on relaxing we decided to try some night fishing as we had heard there was more chance of a catch in the dark. We had no such luck, although Gaz did manage to ‘catch himself’, ending up in rather precarious situation with one leg out the boat and the other with a fish hook stuck in the water shoe…. all in the dark! We finished up the day with a glass of wine and a hot tub in the dark looking up at the night sky and spotting a shooting star… relaxation at last. Heaven!
The second day we decided a slower pace was needed, so we relaxed and sunbathed in the morning, then took out the fishing boat on the sound. Rach managed to hook a ‘spotty’ fish (she was actually hoping she wouldn’t catch one!), and Gaz had a couple of promising big tugs on the line but no catch. We later 
went kayaking again, this time over to the other side of the sound to have an ice-cream and explore a shipwreck there. Once back we headed up the beach at low tide with a bucket and rummaged around in the sand for cockles and mussels – great fun! – which we cooked up into a little feast back in the hostel. Quite understandably we were very reluctant to leave this little piece of paradise the next day. Highly recommended for anyone passing through New Zealand!!
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